2015 IAMSE Master Teacher Award Winner

2015 Master Teacher Award Winner

Huntington, WV June 26, 2015 - The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious Master Scholar Award and Master Teacher Award for 2015. The Master Teacher Award was established to honor an IAMSE member who has consistently demonstrated extraordinary excellence in teaching.

Master Teacher Award Winner: John Szarek, PhD, CHSE, John received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy, and a BS in Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana. In 2013 he became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Prior to moving to Scranton, PA and joining the faculty at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC), he was a member of the faculty at Marshall University School of Medicine where he was involved in lunch research, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica where he also started and ran the simulation program for the second year medical students, and a faculty member and Director of Human Simulation at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona. John wears many hats at TCMC. Foremost he is a Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Basic Sciences and the Director of Clinical Pharmacology, as well as Education Director for curriculum thread for TCMC, a role in which he helps develop and lead activities bringing together students from multiple health professions schools in the surrounding geographic area.

John’s focus began to shift toward teaching and learning about 15 years ago after participating in a week-long course on effective teaching. He found himself reading books and journals related to education and attending workshops to learn more about teaching and learning. He has published abstracts and manuscripts related to medical education, and conducted many faculty development sessions at TCMC and society meetings (ASPET, IAMSE, SSH, and AMSPC) on topics such as facilitating small group sessions, the use of simulation in medical education, question writing, and presentation skills. More recently, he has been an advocate for the flipped classroom and Interprofessional education. In addition to thanking IAMSE for this honor, he is most grateful to his wife of 35 years, Laura, for her love and support throughout this journey.

The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is a professional society based on the guiding principle that all who teach the sciences fundamental to medical practice should have access to the most current information and skills needed to excel as educators. With members in over 40 countries, IAMSE is international in scope and interdisciplinary in nature. For more information, please visit iamse.org.